Group Rededicates Welsh Church Sign 135 Years Later

A group of about 50 people gathered yesterday for a dedication ceremony at the Welsh Congregational Church much the same way their forebears did exactly 135 years ago.

The church's preservation society re-dedicated the original church sign in front of the building on West Abbott Street in Lansford, during a brief ceremony in bone-chilling temperatures yesterday afternoon.

The reinstatement of the original sign, which says "Welsh Congregational Church, Dec. 26, 1850," served as a sort of cornerstone-laying for the group, which hopes to convert the old church and an adjoining parsonage into a Welsh Heritage Center, according to Alfred J. Reese Jr., head of the committee that planned the program.

The church was built as a place of worship in 1849 by Welsh miners, some of the first settlers in Lansford, and was a place for weekly Welsh language services until 1955. From then on services were heldonly on special days and occasions.

The Rev. Chesley Laite, pastor of the English Congregational Church in Lansford and a participant in yesterday's service, said that his parish was formed in the late 1800s when a group of younger people requested English- speaking services at the original church. Their request was denied, and the splinter congregation was formed.

The First Congregational Church in Coaldale can also trace its heritage directly to the old Welsh church.

Reese said that although there is some discrepancy as to whether the original dedication took place on Christmas Day or Dec. 26, 1850, the sign served as guide which the committee followed.

"It's the only clue we have as to when it was first done," he said, adding that committee members felt the original settlers would not have dedicated the building on Christmas Day because they would have reserved it for the celebration of Christ's birth.

The sign, which looks brand new from a distance, shows weathered wood as evidence of its age when examined closely. It was redone by Joseph Vadyak of Lansford and installed in the upper center of the church building.

Exterior renovations have been completed, and the committee plans to finish the restoration of the church and then tackle the neighboring parsonage, currently in a state of disrepair.

The project has been financed by donations from the congregation, and a mail campaign in which 1,700 letters were sent to Welsh descendants, their friends and people throughout the community who are believed to be interested in the project.

A more formal rededication program for the entire building is being planned for March 1, St. David's Day. St. David is the patron saint of Wales.

Reese said yesterday that the group's aim is to eventually use thechurch and parsonage as a Welsh Heritage Center, with the church being used for religious celebrations and observances and the parsonage as a museum and tribute depicting the early settlers' lives.

He said the committee plans to initiate a "perpetual care" program for the buildings, so that the buildings do not deteriorate in the future.